A KIND-HEARTED mother and former cancer patient is “overwhelmed” at raising more than £27,000 for cancer appeal.

Noreen O’Sullivan, 61, has lived in Hendon for 40 years and was diagnosed with Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) last year.

NETs are a rare form of cancer that are hard to detect, and the Quiet Cancer Appeal deals exclusively with raising money to develop research into these types of tumours.

Ms O’Sullivan, with family and friends, organised a special night at the Claddagh Ring in Hendon last month, and raised £27,276 and counting for the quiet cancer appeal.

She said: “I was overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of people on the night, but also to my nephews, nieces and to my daughter Fiona, my son Shane and daughter in law, Anna, for everything.

“I had sleepless nights about how I would raise our original target of £5,000, and I would have been very happy to reach that amount, but I was so overwhelmed at raising over £27,000.  To get to this much and still be raising money is something special.

"I could not have done this without the support of my family and friends, and I am so thankful to the team at the Royal Free Hospital in London, who looked after me. I had never heard of this type of cancer before and I wanted to give something back to the hospital."

A live auction sold signed football shirts, Ronan Keaton tickets and Britain’s Got Talent tickets, raised £1,000 on the night.

She also thanked the owners of Claddagh ring, who donated the hall to her free of charge.

London’s Royal Free Hospital is a leading international centre for both treatment and research into NETs.

The Quiet Cancer Appeal needs to raise £3m over ten years, to secure research to benefit future generations of rare cancer sufferers.

Ms O’Sullivan and family presented the cheque to Professor Martyn Caplin and nurses at the Royal Free Hospital earlier this month.

Professor Caplin, of gastroenterology and lead physician for neuroendocrine tumours, said: “This amazing fundraising effort by Noreen will really make a difference to our research programme into understanding theses tumours and developing tests for early diagnosis as weCutll as better therapies.”

To donate to Noreen’s just giving page, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tqcfundraiser.